December 8, 2016 - While around the world remains of Paleolithic plants are scarce, this unique macro-botanical assemblage has allowed researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar Ilan University to study the vegetal diet of humans from early-mid ...

December 7, 2016 - David Karasik of Bar Ilan University's Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee. Its conclusions were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. "A variety of experimental and epidemiological studies have tried to propose that intermittent or ...

December 7, 2016 - A study by Abraham Susswein of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and The Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University, has now answered this question. Published in eLife ...

December 6, 2016 - Abraham Susswein of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and The Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University, has now answered this question. Published today in eLife, the ...

December 2, 2016 - "In a developed market, you are competing with cheaper forms of conventional power generation, such as gas and also hydro. Energy storage costs still have some way to come down for a hybrid plant like Kennedy Energy Park to be competitive," he said.

Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel’s second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students (including 9,000 students in its affiliated regional colleges) and 1,350 faculty members. Bar-Ilan University has eight faculties: Exact Sciences, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, Jewish Studies, Medicine, Engineering, and Law. There are also interdisciplinary studies.

The University aims to forge closer links between Torah and universal studies, “to blend tradition with modern technologies and scholarship, and teach the compelling ethics of Jewish heritage to all… to synthesize the ancient and modern, the sacred and the material, the spiritual and the scientific.”

Weaning cars and trucks off of gasoline and diesel made from fossil fuels is a difficult task. One promising solution involves biodiesel, which comes from natural oils and fats, but it is costly. Using a microwave and catalyst-coated beads, scientists have devised a new way to convert waste cooking oil into biodiesel that could make it more affordable.

They report how they did it in ACS’ journal Energy & Fuels.

Biodiesel has many advantages over traditional fuels. It is renewable, biodegradable and emits less carbon dioxide. It can also easily take the place of conventional diesel without the need for carmakers to modify engines. However, producing biodiesel at a low cost remains a challenge. Waste cooking oil is currently the most appealing source because it doesn’t compete with the demand for virgin cooking oil. However, the process to convert it to fuel is complicated and expensive. Aharon Gedanken and colleagues wanted to find a simpler and less expensive method.

The researchers developed silica beads coated with a catalyst and added them to waste cooking oil. Then, they zapped the mixture with a modified microwave oven to spur the reaction of the beads with cooking oil. In just 10 seconds, nearly 100 percent of the oil was converted to fuel. The researchers could also easily recover the beads and reuse them at least 10 times with similar results.

Monitoring a patient’s vital signs and other physiological parameters is a standard part of medical care, but, increasingly, health and fitness-minded individuals are looking for ways to easily keep their own tabs on these measurements. Enter the biometric watch.

In a pair of papers published in The Optical Society’s (OSA) open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express, groups of researchers from the Netherlands and Israel describe two new wearable devices that use changing patterns of scattered light to monitor biometrics: one tracks glucose concentration and dehydration levels, and the other monitors pulse.

The glucose sensor is the first wearable device that can measure glucose concentration directly but noninvasively, the authors say.

And while other wearable devices have been made to monitor pulse, the authors claim their new design would be less sensitive to errors when the wearer is in motion, for example while walking or playing sports.

December 2, 2016 - "In a developed market, you are competing with cheaper forms of conventional power generation, such as gas and also hydro. Energy storage costs still have some way to come down for a hybrid plant like Kennedy Energy Park to be competitive," he said.

December 1, 2016 - SEATTLE - When firefighter paramedics Morlon Malveaux and Mark Pedeferri learned that their powerhorse diesel ambulance was going to be traded for a gas-powered hybrid they were more than a little concerned. The two, who run a Medic One rig ...